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FixIt: Penn & Teller FOH Engineer Wayne Willard

Even though we have only two cast members, one of whom [Teller] never speaks, we engage 20 mic/receiver sets over three band splits. Penn Jillette is double-miked with one transmitter in a low-band s7/09/2010 10:29 AM Eastern

Even though we have only two cast members, one of whom [Teller] never speaks, we engage 20 mic/receiver sets over three band splits. Penn Jillette is double-miked with one transmitter in a low-band split and one transmitter in a high-band split. Penn plays a double-miked upright bass and Teller plays a set of vibes outfitted with a wireless transmitter. The show also uses five handheld wireless mics for audience interaction and a handheld mic for the pianist, Mike Jones. Our original gear had pretty much reached the end of its shelf life. I was very concerned about the RF mysteries posed by the White Spaces debacle, particularly because free spectrum in Vegas is extremely limited. We were immediately impressed with the PWS DB-16. It’s made a huge difference in the security of our transmissions. The internal filters protect us from undesirable signals from other sources within our spectrum. We’ve experienced no frequency interruption and zero intermods by other sources, even when we had the political conventions next door. The box worked and continues to work flawlessly since Day One. We feel totally protected.